Low-Glycemic Flour Blend

The project concerned the development of an LGI dough for Neapolitan pizza, as an alternative to traditional "00" flour and wholemeal flour. The blend was formulated by combining Kamut flour (derived from Khorasan wheat, with a glycemic index of 45 compared with 85 for 00 flour), wholemeal soft-wheat flour and glucomannan (a viscous fibre extracted from the tuber Amorphophallus konjac). The dough was mantained in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment, baked in an electric oven at 359–380°C for 60–90 seconds, and tested in different proportions by four professional master pizza-makers with the support of a nutritionist, five diabetologists, a nurse and fifty volunteers with type 1 diabetes.

The primary objective was to identify the optimal ratio among the three components to obtain an LGI pizza with good palatability, dough workability and absence of gastrointestinal discomfort. The secondary objective was to assess the metabolic impact of the final product in 50 patients with type 1 diabetes on insulin-pump therapy, comparing postprandial glycemic response at 2, 4 and 12 hours with traditional and wholemeal pizza, while also evaluating subjective satisfaction and the need for insulin-bolus corrections. The optimal blend identified consisted of 70 g of Kamut flour, 30 g of wholemeal flour and 10 g of glucomannan per 120 g dough ball, with 100% agreement among the master pizza-makers. In patients with T1DM, the LGI pizza produced significantly lower postprandial glycemic values than the traditional pizza (148 vs 165 mg/dl at 2h; 145 vs 196 mg/dl at 4h; p<0.05) and normalised next-morning glycemia (137 vs 199 mg/dl; p<0.01). It required reduced insulin supplements (1.8 vs 3.5 IU on average) and was rated as favorably as traditional pizza (80% vs 85%), with comparable digestibility and no adverse gastrointestinal effects.
The flour blend was the subject of a patent application.